Anger at Covid Deniers.

[Kizzie]

That's it exactly Slim, when other POV threaten our health and well-being as is happening in the pandemic, we must draw the line.  If it were just going to affect those who deny COVID protection measures that would be fine, but it affects all of us and it's clear individual rights do not trump the greater good. 

Reason seems to have fled a swath of people and in their case the law must step in IMO. Mandatory masks or fines, etc.  Same as seatbelts, no smoking, and many other laws we all live with daily. 

Yell all you want just put a mask on and physical distance. Oh and wash your hands 

[Phoebes]

It's been a while. Now Ns who did wind up getting covid, has the long-haul effects, and is running amok as if there is no pandemic, with the kids. I feel like as long as they are doing that I can't see them, because they don't do social distancing.

I don't understand why someone who is afraid of their own shadow rolled their eyes at wearing a mask and now are nonchalant, even having over two months of symptoms. And wonder why I don't come to see them. I just really don't get it.

[Kizzie]

I sincerely hope now that Biden has won he will push the idea that masks really do save lives and coord with states to help bring rates down in the US Phoebes. 

[Phoebes]

Even so, when masks are "required" there seem to always be encounters with people who are either not wearing masks, getting too close, disregarding the rule, or even just talking about it like it's stupid.

For instance, taking my dog to a remote hiking trail. Rarely encountering another soul, yet sure enough, there's always a group I pass closely on the trail, I put on my mask, and they don't, and talk loudly or huff and puff as they pass me. So I DEFinitely breathed in their breath, in the middle of nowhere.

Now my childhood best friend, who told me she didn't care if she got it when refusing to wear a mask around me, has it for the second time (in two different countries) from traveling, and expects me to feel bad for her. One, I don't want to lose my best friend or for her to be sick, but two, she didn't care if I caught it or if she's spreading it. Is she really my best friend? See, this is the reason I started this post in the first place. It's hard to love and respect the people we love and respect when they could care less about this issue.

[Kizzie]

One, I don't want to lose my best friend or for her to be sick, but two, she didn't care if I caught it or if she's spreading it. Is she really my best friend?

Your question is a good one Phoebes.  It may be that you will have to take a friend break until rates come down/a vaccine is in place. Sadly we have to make difficult choices when someone isn't respecting our boundaries/wants/needs and that of others. In the case of your relationship, if she is a good friend she will accept you cannot see her unless she wears a mask.   

This is a deadly virus for some people, that is simply a fact that cannot and should not be ignored.  When it is I  think it speaks volumes about the character of those who do and raises the question you touched on - "Are they people we want to be friends with? "

[Blueberry]

Phoebes, I'm so sorry there are people close to you (physically or emotionally) behaving like this   I get annoyed too about people who don't bother to put their mask on until they are actually in the store. So if I'm on my way out I come face to face with someone coming in without a mask and there isn't always space to maneuvre around them. I do sometimes say something, depending on my mood and energy levels.

In the case of your relationship, if she is a good friend she will accept you cannot see her unless she wears a mask.   

       But for myself I find that easier to say than believe or easier than to put into practice

This is a deadly virus for some people, that is simply a fact that cannot and should not be ignored. 

To add to the fatalities, even if you're not one of them you could well get a lot of long-term health problems. In my country (not the USA), the statistics count those who have recovered from Covid but that does not mean that these people don't still have massive health problems that could become a long-term problem, e.g. reduced lung capacity or fatigue. Nobody knows in advance whether they're going to have these problems or not.

I really have enough problems due to cptsd, e.g. exhaustion (!), without adding any extra! In fact having had a lot of physical problems in the past due to cptsd (meaning the problems couldn't 'just be got rid of') might mean that I have more idea than some of the deniers about the effect of unknown/uncurable/unexpected health problems on day-to-day life.